


The Director's Memors

by Darkstorm21



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 22:00:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2166711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkstorm21/pseuds/Darkstorm21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Director was a man of many known traits, being the head of Project Freelancer and Alpha's Creator. But who was he really? What drove the man to making the project and wanting to try and hold onto the memories of the love he used to have? He records his thoughts on certain topics in these memoirs. Follows Season 10 Freelancer story and present day story arcs, spoilers present. This story will shift between first person Carolina and third person Project Freelancer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> For those who don't know me, I am a huge fan of this series, and there were certain moments in Seasons nine and ten that I felt should have additional emotions and what on the Director's mind, these are major scenes from the series leading into the inevitable end of the Director's storyline.

**Outside of Crash Site Bravo**

**Present Day**

We left them behind, he could have stayed, but he didn’t. I could only look forward, tempted to go back; Epsilon made a home with them, but something was still gnawing at my heart, something that was keeping me from just settling down and finally laying Freelancer to rest. I sat back against a rock; my battle rifle sat next to me as I removed my new Recon helmet and moved my bangs away from my eyes.

 “Something the matter Carolina?”

 As I look over, Epsilon materialized next to me, he meant well, the memories of what Alpha went through, I saved him from a capture unit he deliberately put himself in so he could find her, Texas, of all people, of course, I understood now why Alpha and Epsilon fought for Texas so much. Epsilon appeared in the same miniature glowing A.I. form I got so used to seeing with the other A.I.’s around the Mother of Invention.

 "Yeah, I just….” I sat up, my knees hitting my chest plate “I was just thinking about him again.”

 “About the Director? I thought you gave up that fight?”

 “I did, I just….I guess I’m just having a hard time understanding what everything we went through was for, why he did everything he did.”

 “I know from what I remember, he did it to try and bring Allison back.” Epsilon replied “But I think I might know a bit more than what you understand Julia.”

 I laughed; I hadn’t used that name since Errera when I first met York, stupid York, handsome man, drunk out of his skull playing with a lighter he got at the club so his friends could smoke right in front of him, after that, Freelancer came along and recruited us both into its program.

 “How so Church?”

 “Simple, the Director left journals of everything he did, I’ve had a lot of time to hear them all, I saved copies of them, and do you think they’d bring you what you’re looking for?”

 “As the moon began to rise, I decided to just do what my gut said, and unfortunately, my gut was going in five different locations, but I had to just pick one.”

 “Show me.”

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Who She Was

**Mother of Invention**

**Many years ago…**

** **

“What the hell is going on!?” The Director yelled walking down the stairs into the observation room, the Councilor silently walked behind him “No matches have been authorized for…”

He looked at the Freelancers, Agent York, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Maine and Washington, but there were two missing, one was obviously Agent Carolina, she had been a pain in the ass lately, trying to compete and beat Agent Texas.

That was when it hit him, where was Texas, as silence filled the room, he heard two women shouting on the training field.

“No Allison!” He yelled running to the mirror, his body pressing up against the glass

He knew what he did, he created these A.I.’s after all, as he said Allison’s name, every Agent began to react, as he looked back, York was holding his head and was slowly backing away, as North Dakota fell to his knees in pain, Maine was bashing his head with the palms of his head and Wyoming threw his helmet away and fell to his hands and knees in pain.

Washington and South Dakota, the only two Agents yet to receive A.I.’s had managed to not feel these effects, looking at the training field, Carolina was on her knees and threw her helmet away screaming in pain, as Texas stood, who had only managed to fall to her knees temporarily.

The Director only could look down in disappointment, as Carolina screamed everyone was looking around to see what to do next, he was a bit at a loss, but his anger was building up.

_“And don’t worry, you’ll see me again.”_

The Director blinked, why was she on his mind again? Allison had been dead for a long time….why couldn’t he stop thinking about her?

“Director, we should sedate Carolina, we have no idea what two A.I. could…”

“No.” The Director snapped “She made her decision. Let her be.”

The Councilor backed off as Texas glared up at the viewing box “What the fuck is going on!? Someone get down here!”

The Director shook his head and turned back toward the main entrance way, his hands clenched into fists as the Councilor followed him.

He turned back to the other Freelancers “You are all dismissed.”

* * *

The Director walked toward his office’s main door, he sighed and pinched the sides of his nose in frustration.

“ _Leonard, come on, stop it, put that thing down.”_

“Director, what should we do about Agent Carolina?”

The Director turned to the Councilor, though not turning his neck all the way “Get a team down to the training room and induce a coma on her, we can’t take any risks that Eta and Iota won’t cause massive damage and make her go on a rampage in the ship.” He pressed a button on the terminal “She’s already furious with Agent Texas, it won’t be long before she tries to kill her.”

“I’m surprised you care so much Director, perhaps we shouldn’t have allowed Agent Texas to interact with the other Freelancers yet, she is a shadow, maybe if we tweaked with her a little…”

The Director snapped toward the Councilor “Follow my orders Councilor, you are dismissed.”

“Yes sir.” The Councilor departed as the Director stormed inside his cabin

* * *

“ _Leonard, come on, stop it, put that thing down. You're gonna make me late, they're waiting for me.”_

_ _

The Director sighed as he tapped the pause button on the terminal, a young blonde woman in camouflage green clothing stood on the screen. He played this file over and over, it was almost a daily ritual, every morning when a new day started, whenever he felt frustrated, sad, or even angry he would play it, and every night when the Project shut down, he would play it, just to hear her again, to see her again.

It had been so long since that day, the day he lost her, the day she died, when it was created, she came back as a byproduct of the process. He pressed a small key on his keyboard and a small eye located on the left side of the keyboard began to flare with life.

“Director.” A robotic voice came over the speakers in his quarters

“F.I.L.I.S. I want to record another journal entry.”

“Are you sure Director? It has only been a few weeks since your last one, you usually complete one every…”

“Begin recording F.I.L.I.S.” The Director commanded

“Recording program activated, awaiting your word Director.”

He sighed and took a breath “The Councilor’s insistence on referring to Agent Texas as a byproduct continues to frustrate me. We have seen our share of un-harvestable fragments. She is certainly not one of them. No indeed, she's something else entirely. Recently, we took the time to harvest the next A.I. in the cycle, A.I. unit Gamma, which has been assigned to Wyoming, as I begin to create these fragments, I feel as though I’m lying, I’m doing something I know will eventually come back to haunt me, though she continues to haunt me,”

He slowly began to pace back and forth in a small circle “Allison has been on my mind a lot as of late, as I watch Agent Texas operate in the field, I can’t help but feel a sort of remorse, like a father unwilling to allow his daughter to grow up, every time Agent Texas enters the field, I worry she will be lost from me. I have seen too many losses in my life to loose Allison a second time,”

Taking a breath again, he knew this next part was going to be difficult, but talking this out helped him, get him back on track “Agent Carolina has continued to pursue her top spot on the leader board, going as foolish enough as to have two A.I. units implanted in her head, one are hard enough to master, two are even worse.” He pinched the sides of his nose “Yet, I cannot help but feel a bit responsible, the Councilor seems to think Agent Texas could have used some improvements before we incorporated her into the program, I feel as though lying to my own daughter, not telling her that Texas is based on her mother is a betrayal in its own right, yet me telling her would mean Carolina might go rogue or worse, try to find out what it is we’re doing here in this facility, with the A.I. programs. Both of the women I brought into the world almost killed each other today, if Texas was lost, I would never forgive myself,”

“Allison, she has been the inspiration for this Project, if she was still alive…maybe things would be different, for now, I just have to pray that Texas could become her again, even though she’ll never know me as nothing more than the Director of Project Freelancer, I feel better knowing I can keep her close and monitor her rather than wait to hear she’s been killed.”

As he thought for a moment, he headed toward the terminal “Tomorrow, we begin preparations to extract another fragment from Alpha. The sarcophagus continues to be put to extreme usefulness to us, as we draw closer to completing the implantations, I just pray another Eta and Iota incident never occurs again. Close the session F.I.L.I.S.”

“Yes Director.” F.I.L.I.S. replied

The Director opened his door and closed it behind him, as he walked the Councilor was waiting for him at the end of the hall “Director, Agent Carolina has been sedated and is in the recovery wing.”

“Good, get Alpha in the lab.” The Director thought for a moment as his hands went to a small of his back “Also, see to it that Gamma, Omega and Sigma meet us in a few hours, and make sure they leave without Wyoming or Maine knowing.”

“What of Texas sir?”

“The same with her, wait for her to remove him, after all this, she’ll have to.”

“Yes Director.” The Councilor nodded

As the pair walked down the hall heading toward the lab, a smile spread on the Director’s old face. Allison would be proud of him.

 

 

 


	3. The A.I. Units

 

 

 

The Director held a memory unit in his hands, his face determined as ever “That's right it's broken. We broke it, and we need you to fix it, just like you've done before. Here take this. Use this to fix it. Make it better; take away all that we broke, that's right. Put them in here.”

He handed the unit to the purple alien that floated in front of him, it clicked a few buttons and a bright blue light emitted from where it stood, and just as quickly as the light burst to life, it quickly dimmed.

“It is done.” The Councilor said bluntly

The Director took a hold of the memory unit, one end of the purple container in each hand “Welcome to the world Epsilon. Today, is your birthday.”

A small hum began to emit from the inside of the storage unit, the Director turned to the screen, Alpha was still there, but wasn’t himself, he knew what he had done; Alpha was never going to be the same again. As he clipped Epsilon onto the holding tube, the ODSTs began to pull the purple being back into the sarcophagus.

“Councilor, let Agent Washington know he is going to be prepped for surgery first thing in the morning.”

“First thing sir?”

“Yes, first thing, then see to it that Sigma, Gamma and Omega made it back to Wyoming, Maine and Texas, same procedures as before.”

“Yes sir. Is there anything else?”

“No. Not right now, I’m going to turn in early.”

* * *

 

“Director, it has been two days in a row now, are you sure you wish to make another journal entry?”

“Yes F.I.L.I.S. I find that this one, I need to get down into memory. You have seen to it that these files are backed up and kept from anyone aside from myself?”

“Yes Director, ready to begin when you are.”

He cleared his throat “It is done, the final fragment of Alpha has been created, unit Epsilon, yet, I cannot help but feel somewhat guilty. I created Alpha years ago with the intention of having him run the Mother of Invention and assisting me with calculating the missions, but something happened, something I never thought was possible, I noted at first after his creation, Alpha would make constant little mistakes when the program first started, simple mistakes that would have devastating effects had they been anything more than simulations and scenarios. But one day, something happened, he had a one hundred percent success rate for the hardest scenarios I could come up with, when I questioned him, I found out why, another A.I. had been created or rather fragmented off, it was strong enough that it had its own identity, no memory mind you, but I knew who it was,”

He took a breath and quickly exhaled “It was her, I couldn’t understand how she managed to return, but she did, Allison was revived in the memories of this A.I. I dubbed her as Beta, also known as Agent Texas.” He shook his head “If she ever found out who she really is, I do not know how it would affect the project, but I know I can’t allow myself to think that way. After Texas was created, I began to wonder if it was possible for me to create more of them, more of the fragments, each with their own personality, I needed time, though, and there was a time when I wish I could segregate my own emotions away.”

* * *

**_University of Reach_ **

**_Planet Reach_ **

**_Many years ago before Freelancer…._ **

_“No, I need more time to finish this.”_

_Leonard Church was a young graduate student at the University of Harvest, the war was well under way, with a bachelor’s degree from Western Carolina University in scientific engineering, what he was working on was his graduation exam, the very thing that could make history._

_He had read once of a woman in the UNSC who had managed to create an A.I. out of a clone of her own brain, he knew the process could be done, but he wanted to see what would happen if he could replicate the exact same conditions, and then use some of the same tissue to fix an A.I. making it go past the stages of rampancy and achieve metastability, it was still in the prototype stage, but it could be done._

_“Leonard, do you have a minute?”_

_He looked up from his work at an elderly college professor with snow white hair, gray eyes and crescent moon glasses over his eyes._

_“Doctor Kingsley, please excuse the mess…” If there was one thing Leonard was known for was being humble, but he had a reason, Allison was going to be visiting him on Reach “I have company arriving soon and I wanted to make sure I was ahead in my work.”_

_When he earned his degree, he wanted to work near the UNSC, and with the Great War breaking out, he wanted to make sure Allison was safe, though they hadn’t spoken since the video he taped of her right before her last major deployment, they had shared emails, she had received a two week pass and after this next campaign was over, she was heading to Reach to spend time with him and their child. Julia always was the good type of child, always behaved, and was very understanding of her mother’s career, she was even looking forward to moving with her father so he could earn his doctrine._

_“Leonard, take five, I need to tell you something.” Kingsley sighed “The University was contacted by the UNSC this morning.”_

_“And? Something happened I take it.” Leonard never took away from his work, the calculations required his direct attention, and he was extremely close to finding if his theory could work. All he needed was five more minutes._

_“Yes, they told me you were her next of kin.” Kingsley placed a hand on Leonard’s shoulder “It’s about Allison.”_

_“What about her!?” He almost shouted, head turning toward his professor_

_“She was killed this morning Leonard, I’m so sorry.”_

_He didn’t know how to feel, his mouth hung open, how was he going to explain this to Julia, was he simply going to say her mother was dead? Or was he going to make up some story? She was only four years old._

_“The University is prepared to help you in anyway.”_

_“Thank you sir, I just would like to get back to work.”_

_As Kingsley departed, Leonard removed his glasses, hot tears began to stream down his face as his green eyes grew puffy._

_“Allison.” He muttered, anger and sadness built into his body_

* * *

 

 

“I studied the work of the woman and I managed to replicate Alpha the same way she made her A.I. with a clone of her brain tissue.” Leonard explained, his anger beginning to build “I soon found out who killed Allison, her own team betrayed her, turned her over to the Insurrection and they put a bullet into her head, and I knew I couldn’t make them pay. So I when I found out the traitors had sided with the Insurrection and had a device that was powerful enough to get the job done, I knew what was required of me.”

He walked over to a picture of him and Allison from when they were younger, a small girl stood in between them, her red hair hit her neck and her bangs hung down over her forehead, and she had the same green eyes he did, The Director could only smile.

“Freelancer was later dispatched to the main headquarters and managed to retrieve the package, inside was something I only ever read about, Allison told me a lot about them, the aliens we were fighting, also known as the Covenant, the Councilor and I knew that we had to use that machine, inside of it, an artificial intelligence, not created by the aliens, but by the other species the UNSC is so fond of studying created them, their official names are Huragok, humanity calls them Engineers. We used it, when we broke Alpha after Texas, we soon had it take all the broken and put it in storage unit.”

He walked away from the picture and back toward the terminal “Delta was next who was assigned to Agent York, for some reason, Carolina has a fondness for him, why, I’ll never know, guess that’s the father in me, Sigma was next, who was assigned to Carolina, though after Maine’s injury, she gave Sigma up to him. Theta was assigned to Agent North Dakota, then Gamma who was assigned to Wyoming, each one of the A.I.’s were assigned to an Agent based on the personality they had.”

As he slowly began to walk in separate locations, something he did when he performed these journals, he could hear people walking outside “After Theta was created, it was getting harder and harder to create them, Alpha began to show more and more resilience and began to try to fight his way out, or try to deceive me, or find creative ways to trick me and the Councilor, but then we began to use A.I.’s like Sigma and Gamma to assist with splitting the fragments, I had to use Sigma, Gamma and Omega to split Epsilon, I don’t know what will happen, if anyone finds Alpha, they will know what I’ve done, I have a feeling Epsilon may be a bit of a gamble, if he has the trait I believe he has, then everything I’ve done, everything I’ve known, Washington will know soon enough, but if need be, we will silence him, though I doubt that will happen.”

The Director began to walk toward the door “F.I.L.I.S. end record.”

“Yes Director.”

* * *

“Councilor, see to it that Alpha is stored away, make it so it will be difficult to find.”

“ _Yes Director, Agent Washington is prepped, we are just waiting for your approval.”_

_“_ No need, I’m going to see to his surgery myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter does also make references to the Halo Franchise, for those of who don'  
> t know, the woman who I have The Director studying is Dr. Catherine Halsey, she is the creator of the Spartan-II Project and the was the one who brought Master Chief into existence.


	4. Guilt

 

 

“Secure him! Get him under control!”

Agent Washington roared in pain as a medic quickly approached him and inserted a needle into an opening in his armor, all the while he continued to scream at the top of his lungs, knocking a table over and falling to his knees, the Director thought he could hear him saying something between the screams.

Epsilon was just implanted in Washington’s neural interface and for some reason, he was causing this adverse effect, he couldn’t understand how this was happening. After some time, Washington calmed down and the medics pulled him back onto the operating table and strapped him down.

“Get him to recovery!” The Director glared at the Councilor “Councilor, I would like to speak with him as soon as he wakes up.”

“Yes sir, what was that he said about goodbyes?” The Councilor took a pause, as he looked over; the Director looked at Washington “Director? Director?”

* * *

“Are you ready Director?”

“Begin now F.I.L.I.S.” The director sighed as he sat in his chair, F.I.L.I.S.’ avatar on the terminal began to glow a dark blue

“The Epsilon project did not go as expected, Agent Washington had received…negative effects, I feared the implantation procedure would be the same as Carolina’s…” He took a pause as he thought about Carolina, about Julia, his greatest creation, on the floor screaming at the top of her lungs in pain, wanting the voices to stop, when he saw her that day, he saw that same little girl screaming for her daddy because she had fallen off of her bicycle.

“I cannot help but feel as though I let her down.” The Director took a pause “I feel like I’ve let Julia down, I’ve let Allison down. When Allison died, I knew who the monsters were, those UNSC soldiers she called her people, they turned to the Insurrection and let her get killed, I made sure to send my Freelancers, even Carolina, after them, though she’ll never understand what letting the leader and Agent Connecticut get away did to me on the inside, I know one day he will die, and when he does, I’ll laugh until my last breath is taken.”

“But Allison, I feel as though I’ve let her memory down and I feel as though I’ve pushed Julia too far, this could have cost her severely, I knew what would happen if more than one of the fragments were implanted into the Agents, I feel like I’ve pushed her too far, she knew what kind of a soldier he mother was and I knew that once Agent Texas was ready for combat scenarios, she would be just like Allison, and I knew that Julia always pushed herself to be the best.”

_“Just you wait daddy! I’ll be as good as mommy one day and fight all the monsters!”_

He smiled at the memory of Carolina as a child running around trying to act like Allison, when she did come home, or the last time the two saw each other, the games they played, Allison would go to save Carolina or vice of versa, there was even a game where Leonard himself was kidnapped by the rebels and Julia and Allison teamed up to save him.

“With Texas around, I cannot help but feel content, I knew I tried my best, but I know one day she’ll slip up, she’s based on her failure, all I can remember of Allison anymore is the file I have saved. The day before her deployment, the day before she was killed, I don’t know why I continue to allow Allison to haunt me.”

“I’ve always felt like, having Carolina and Texas together was a bad idea, Texas will never know who she really is, at least I hope not, and Carolina will never know she’s just a shadow of her mother. But I know how hard Julia has always pushed herself, I know she’ll get hurt, I know it’ll get her killed, I constantly hear Agent York trying to calm her down, if he was one of the many boys she brought home as a teenager, I would have approved of Michael right away. But I know where her arrogance, her determination and her abilities will do to her….”

* * *

**_Earth, United Republic of North America_ **

**_Many years before the start of Project Freelancer…_ **

“ _Daddy! Daddy!” A young voice called out_

_The thirty year old Leonard Church ran out into the back yard of his house, he had just finished achieving his master’s degree in scientific engineering and he had decided to bring Julia back home where she belonged, not on Reach, he knew one day something would have every human coming back to Earth._

_“Julia, are you okay honey?” He bent down to his screaming daughter_

_She was on her back, her leg was in her small hands and her bicycle was on the ground next to her, tires spinning as evidence of her crashing, she was just starting to ride a two-wheeled bicycle, he had taken his eye off of her for five minutes to say hello to their new neighbors and she crashed._

_“My leg hurts!” She cried out between sobs_

_“Shhhh…shhh.” Leonard smiled and gently kissed her forehead “Let me see.”_

_She didn’t want to move her hands, but Leonard smiled and placed one over hers and smiled down at her, his green eyes matching hers, Julia knew that when he smiled, everything was going to be okay._

_Gently she lifted her hands to reveal a giant scrape mark on her tiny five year old leg. Leonard smiled and gently kissed it._

_“All better?”_

_“Daddy,” She started to calm down “I’m not three anymore.”_

_Leonard smiled “I know sweetie, still, there’s nothing wrong with getting special treatment. Now come on,” He scooped her into his arms “Let’s get you cleaned up.”_

_“What about mommy’s bike?”_

_“I’ll get it later, right now we need to make sure that wound isn’t infected.”_

* * *

 

_“Ow daddy!”_

_“I’m sorry sweetie, I’m sorry.”_

_Leonard pressed the cotton swab dipped in peroxide on her scrape, even as a child he hated when this happened, usually it was when he got bit on the leg hiking with his father or something stupid like that._

_“Daddy? Do you miss Mommy?”_

_Leonard looked at her and removed his glasses “Of course I do. I miss her with all of my heart”_

_“When I’m big enough, will you show me how to fight?”_

_“Of course I will Julia, though I think your mother could teach you better than I can, I’m just a scientist.” Leonard smiled “Why do you want to learn how to fight?”_

_“So I can save you and everyone from the people that took Mommy away!”_

_Leonard smiled “That’s a long time from now dear, I’m sure they’ll find new ways to combat the enemy.”_

_“Like these people daddy!” Julia took the data pad next to her and opened up an article_

_The screen showed an almost seven foot tall possible human clad in green armor from head to toe standing with one foot over a pile of bodies belonging to the Insurrection._

_“I’m sure I can figure out a way to teach you sweetheart.” Leonard smiled as he placed a bandage on her leg “Now go get ready for dinner, go on, I’ll be right there.”_

_Julia nodded and ran off into the living room of their single one story house. Leonard picked up the data pad again and decided to save the photo for himself, he was sure this armor could be useful with his future projects._

* * *

 

“Julia has always pushed herself, from the time she was young, she always strived to be the best at everything she could find, school, after school athletics, any programs I signed her up for, when she showed me a picture of those soldiers who fought in the Great War, I knew I needed to improve what they had, so I managed to create everything Freelancer needed from them.” The Director stood “Not to mention adapting each A.I. to match their personalities. I know what I did was wrong, I know one day, I will need to answer for my crimes, I just know that no matter how hard I try, I just wonder what guilt I will need to live with once everything is complete.”

He sighed “Log of F.I.L.I.S.” He walked over to the terminal, sat down and pressed the play button.

_“Leonard, come on, stop it, put that thing down. You're gonna make me late, they're waiting for me.”_

 


	5. Why My Daughter?

 

He tossed her over the edge, the Director could only watch as Carolina yelled in pain, Maine holding her by the throat with one hand, Eta and Iota in the other, as he tossed her over the cliff, Texas ran over to them.

“No!”

The Director could only hear the words, though he kept his composure in front of the Councilor and the ODST soldiers, inside, his heart was broken, Carolina was dead and Tex went rogue. Maine removed his helmet, Eta and Iota were attached to his neural interface on the back of his neck and that was when the Director saw it, the green symbol tattooed on the back of his head, he saw it once before.

* * *

**Mother of Invention**

**A few months ago**

_“Sigma, are you coming?” Delta asked_

_“Yes. We will be joining you shortly.” Sigma remarked as the symbols he began to play with finally formed_

_After a few moments, Sigma flew away from the classroom, as the Director walked inside the classroom to the symbol appearing on the screen._

_“Well, that’s interesting.” The Director looked at the door “What are you planning Sigma?”_

_ _

* * *

 

The Director’s eyes showed pain as he walked out onto the snow.

“You run Agent Texas, we are the Meta,” Sigma sneered “And we will find you, very soon.”

Maine glared back at the Director, Sigma, Eta and Iota disappeared as Maine began to walk toward the Director only to be intercepted by sniper fire.

Several ODST soldiers walked in front of the Director along with Agent Wyoming, who pointed his sniper rifle at Maine.

Sigma appeared “Agent Maine, we do not need to get them all now, for now, we shall be on our way.”

He floated over to the Director and Agent Wyoming “Let this be a warning to you Director. Carolina was the first, soon, Alpha will return, and when he does, we shall show you what terror really is.”

He floated back to Maine as he ran out into the snow. Wyoming looked at the Director.

“Should I go after him sir?”

“No Wyoming let him go.”

“But sir, you know what’ll happen to…”

“Yes.” He snapped “Get back to the ship; assess the damage with the others. Report back to me in two hours.”

* * *

 

“F.I.L.I.S. are you still online?”

“Yes…” there was a stagger “Is everything alright Director?”

“No, no it’s not.” The Director sighed “Activate the recording option if it is still available.”

“Yes Director.” F.I.L.I.S. went silent as the Director sat down on his bed and removed his glasses

“She’s gone; Agent Caro…Julia is dead. I failed; I failed the promise I made to her so many years ago…”

* * *

**_Unknown Location, Reach_ **

**_Many years before the start of Project Freelancer…_ **

_Leonard looked out at the main encampment; Allison squatted down in front of Julia, behind Leonard with the car stood Allison’s sister Maria, she had volunteered to say with Leonard and Julia for a while until she adapted to Allison’s leaving._

_“But Mommy!” Julia whined “When are you coming home for good?”_

_Allison smiled “Julia, I’ll be home soon. Mommy’s very proud of you sweetheart, you be good for daddy okay?”_

_“Okay!” She hugged Allison “Goodbye Mommy.”_

_“Never say goodbye sweetheart, always remember, if you don’t say goodbye, then you’re not really gone, your just not here right now.”_

_Julia nodded and wiped her tears as Leonard walked over to Allison, camera in his hand._

_“Promise me you’ll keep her safe?” Allison smiled “Don’t get too involved in your work.”_

_“I will” Leonard smiled as he kissed her_

_She kissed him back happily “Always Leonard, I don’t want to have to come home,” she cupped his face, rubbing her thumb along his developing goatee “and kick your ass because something happened to our daughter.”_

_Leonard smiled at her and looked into her hazel eyes “I promise you, nothing will happen to Julia.”_

_He stepped back and saluted “Good luck, we’re rooting for you back home.” He turned his camera on as Allison laughed at him_

_“Leonard come on, stop it, put that thing down,” A smile spread on her face as she tried to move the camera down “You're gonna make me late, they're waiting for me.”_

_The Director grabbed her hand and she quickly took it away “Don’t make me hurt you.” She replied with a smirk as she walked over to her gear_

_“Come on Allison, these are memories, who knows, Julia may want to see her mother preparing for combat one day when she’s older.”_

_She smiled at him as she strapped on her elbow pads, moved her bangs away, fixed her hat and grabbed her assault rifle._

_As Leonard began to say something, Allison gave him a stern look “Don’t say goodbye.” She admitted “I hate goodbyes.”_

* * *

 

That was the last time he ever saw her, a few months later, he would later find out that Allison was killed.

“I tried to keep her safe.” The Director sighed “I raised her the best that I could,” he stood up and walked toward the window, looking out at he saw nothing but snow and mountains, dried blood stained the snow where Carolina once sat “I should have told her F.I.L.I.S.”

“Told Agent Carolina what Director?”

“I should have told her about Texas.” The Director stood “Why she could never be better than her, why I favored Texas over her.” He felt tears going down his face, he removed his glasses and wiped his eyes, all this time, he thought the tears dried up long ago “I wasn’t the father of the year, but I did my best, but I drove her to this, I drove her into becoming the monster that she had become.”

* * *

 

**Mother of Invention**

**A few weeks ago…**

_“That will be all Councilor, go make sure everything is ready for Washington in the morning.”_

_“Are you sure sir?”_

_“Yes, I…I want to do this next part alone.” The Director replied_

_“Of course sir, I’ll see you in a little while.”_

_The Director walked to the door and went inside the med bay; Maine was sitting in the bed to the far corner while Carolina was still passed out with York holding her hand in his sleep._

_Ah to be young again. The Director thought as he walked over to the doctor in charge_

_The man’s face length visor was all the Director could see as he stood up and snapped a salute “Morning Director, anything I can do for you?”_

_“How long has he been here?” The Director motioned to York_

_“Since Agent Carolina was admitted, Eta and Iota are operating fine sir, though she doesn’t seem to be waking up.”_

_The Director sighed “Do you mind giving us some space?”_

_“Yes sir, I was about to escort Agent Maine back to his room, if you could stay with her until I return…”_

_The Director nodded “It will not be a problem.”_

_He walked over to York and gently shook him; York slowly moved and opened his eye to the Director standing over him._

_“Sir!” York saluted “I didn’t mean to…”_

_“It’s quite alright York, why don’t you go get yourself some coffee and stretch your legs? I’ll stay with her for a little.”_

_“Are you sure sir? It doesn’t…”_

_“Dismissed Agent.”_

_York nodded and walked out as the doctor walked out of the other door with Maine. The Director checked both doors were sealed as he sat down next to Carolina._

_“Caro…Julia, it’s the Director.” He sighed, his green eyes full of pain “I know you can’t hear me right now, hell, I bet you don’t even know I’m sitting here,” he looked to the door “Or that your boyfriend just left. I just wanted to say something, something I’m not very good at, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being there for you when your mother died, you need to understand, and Allison dying was just as bad on me as it was on you, maybe worse because I’ve known her for so long.”_

_He moved his hand so it took hers in his “You’re my daughter Julia, I should have treated you better…. No matter what happens, I’m still your father and I love you.”_

_Carolina’s eyes slowly started to move as she readjusted her head so she was looking at him “Father…?”_

_“Welcome back Agent Carolina. How do you feel?”_

_“Better, still a bit shaky.”_

_“Good,” The Director smiled and kissed her forehead “Get some rest, we’ll talk later.”_

* * *

 

“We always had to talk in secret; I couldn’t let anyone know I was her father, than things would escalate like that did.” The Director moved from the window “Sigma has found a way to bring the separate fragments together to achieve a feat I know isn’t possible, bringing Alpha back together. Once the fragments are separated, it’s impossible for them to come back together.”

“Now I must treat Texas as an enemy, even though both of the women in my life are gone.” The Director sighed “I must try to find a way to bring her back, to make her right. And I now know what I need to do.”

* * *

 

The Director walked through the remains of the ship as the Councilor approached him “Get Alpha contained and prepare for him for transport.”

He travels took him out to the bridge as the Councilor stood next to him “This seems like a major setback for us.”

The Director remained cold “Only momentarily, Counselor. We will recover. The Alpha will need to be moved, though. Somewhere far from here. Somewhere where no one knows who he is.” His thoughts repeated the process of Maine throwing Carolina over the edge of the cliff

“He will need a security detail. Someone we can trust. Might I suggest Flowers, Sir?”

“Flowers? You mean Agent Florida?”

The doors opened and Agent Florida, also known as Butch Flowers walked into the room, the Director couldn’t stay focused on the inside as Allison and Carolina’s words muttered in his mind.

“Ready for duty, Sir. And, might I say, pleased as punch you picked me.” Flowers put his hands on his hips

“We will need a good cover story to explain his disappearance. People will wonder what happened to Florida.”

“Leave that all to me, Sir.” The Councilor pressed a few buttons on his pad

“Very well, but security is not enough. The Alpha needs anonymity. A place where no one will think to look for him.” The Director looked at the Councilor, waiting to see his reaction to this one

“I know just the place sir.”

“Show me.” The Director nodded

A map came up onto the field, two bases stood on either side of rocky terrain.

“It’s called Outpost 1-A and 1-B as per UNSC protocols.” The Councilor explained

“A Blood Gulch so to speak.” Florida inputted

“It’ll do for now, secure Alpha, place him inside a body inside the lab and proceed to have him shipped out.” The Director looked at Flowers “We’ll need you to lead his squad Captain.”

“Of course sir, no problem at all.” Flowers was a bit surprised at the promotion

“Councilor, we’ll need a reason to occupy this base and many others, somewhat of a practice field so the agents can get used to the A.I.’s we’ve implanted.”

“Of course sir. Though this will take time, what if we gather the worst soldiers the UNSC has to offer, stick them together on teams and have the Freelancers come in whenever they want, incorporate scenarios they can experience in the field.” The Councilor offered

“Good plan, see to it that it happens, we’ll send Flowers in early, for now, keep Alpha near the facility and make sure there’s a large team implanted here, a red and blue squad.”

“Red vs. Blue sir? Doesn’t that seem a little cliché?”

“Yes, but it’ll do, the UNSC will never know the difference if we take their worst soldiers, also, see to it construction begins of new bases, off sight facilities so we can abandon this rig, the Invention is finished.”

“Of course sir, I’ll begin at once.”

The Director nodded and looked at Florida “Go with cyan colored armor Flowers; it’s a blue color, somewhat.”

“Yes sir.”

The Director silently walked out of the room, he knew this day was going to come, and it was time Freelancer moved in a new direction.

_“Don’t say goodbye. I hate goodbyes.”_

_ _


End file.
